


Throwing Knives (revised)

by fireflysglow_archivist



Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-02-13
Updated: 2003-02-13
Packaged: 2019-04-29 07:18:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14467710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireflysglow_archivist/pseuds/fireflysglow_archivist
Summary: A quiet night with Simon and Jayne and no sex in sight. (This is the revised version, complete with Chinese translation, which I forgot before. sorry.)





	Throwing Knives (revised)

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Firefly’s Glow](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Firefly%27s_Glow), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project in 2018. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Firefly's Glow collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fireflysglow/profile).

 

Throwing Knives (revised)

## Throwing Knives (revised)

### by hc

  1. Disclaimer: Jayne and Simon and everything else that has anything to do with Firefly is not mine. Which is sad. Because I love them. 
  2. This was written in response to the TWoP Chinese Line Challenge. My line ("Nii xiaao zi biey gen woo laiy nah 'Dihguoyzhuuyih' de goou pih.") means "Don't give me that 'Imperialist' bullshit, son!" 
  3. Thank you so much to the rest of the Firefly forum on TWoP and to Still_Flying for being quite patient with me while I wrote this exceedingly short little fic, and especially to Maystone and Queenb, for help, suggestions and support. And to sf fan for the great title. 



* * *

Simon sat on his bed, his legs crossed underneath him, flipping through screen after screen of his encyclopedia. It was one of the few possessions he'd managed to grab on his way out to save River, away from his safe and solid life on Osiris. At the time, it seemed like a luxury, taking up space in his suitcase he'd need for clothes and medical supplies. But its usefulness had been a surprising and recurring theme-it'd allowed him to look up each new bit of the world he's encountered on his journey to River, to Serenity, to this quiet room in his now anything-but-quiet life. 

On Persophene, he'd backed up Kaylee's glowing recommendation for the ship by looking up exactly what "Firefly Class" meant. He'd used its medical section to check on some of River's syptoms. Though now that he had River and the infinite stores of information and strange facts she posseses in his presence, the encyclopedia's usefulness was waning. Still sometimes Simon found that untangling information from it was easier than interpreting River's explanations, especially when she could sense the reason he was asking questions in the first place. 

Tonight, for instance, Simon was trying to read more about the battle between the Alliance and the Independents. He was alive for it, obviously, but Simon's view of the war was blocked by his parents, his house, his place in the world. And at that point, Simon's tunnelvision led him only to medical school, toward his future as a doctor. The last time he'd really thought about the mechanics of war had been during one of his and River's staged battles, and if he remembered correctly, he'd lost, badly. He'd read about the Battle of Serenity when he first came on the ship, but the war had been so much bigger than that, and Simon still couldn't believe how much he'd missed. 

Simon had just settled back against his wall and started to read about the battle for Church Point at the mouth of the Allen River when the door to his room slid open with a bang. 

Simon looked up to see Jayne leaning in the doorway, his arms folded tightly around his chest, with an unreadable look on his face. 

"Don't you knock?" Simon muttered. 

"No." 

"Well, could you?" Simon sighed. 

"I could," Jayne answered, stretching out the words, "but I don't really see the point." 

"First of all, there's this crazy thing called politeness, which you may or may not heard of. And then there's the issue of privacy." 

Jayne smiled. "Privacy's your own bunk. Be grateful you got that at least. And in my mind, if a door ain't got a lock, then it's open season on what's inside." 

Simon sighed again and looked back down at the screen. He moved his index finger over the power switch, trying to decide whether or not he'd get to learn anything more about Church Point tonight. 

Jayne shifted his weight but kept his arms folded and asked, "So, what, you're like readin'?" 

Simon let his hand fall back to his lap and looked back up, "Yes. Kind of. I've been reading more about the war. I feel like I missed so much of it-" 

Jayne broke in, "Just people dyin'." 

Simon sighed for a third time, but Jayne ignored him and continued, "Plus there were some pretty good guns." 

"So what did you do during the war... because you weren't in a uniform, right?" 

"Pretty much what I'm doin' now. Not many folks put up much of a fight during those years. Easier to get at stuff, easier to break people. Course it's always easier when no one's left to stop you." 

"You looted?" 

Jayne shot back: "And you're surprised?" 

"No. I guess not. It's just that the more I read, the more I think about what's happened, about what was going on while I was at home... I'd like to think if I'd been there, I would've been helping. At least as a doctor." Simon began speaking faster and less confidently, feeling like Jayne might cut him off again, or worse, somehow find another reason to argue for why he shouldn't be on the ship. 

Simon continued, "I mean, there were two sides to it. And people died regardless of what they were fighting for." 

Jayne stood up straight and declared, "Nii xiaao zi biey gen woo laiy nah "Dihguoyzhuuyih" de goou pih." 

Simon looked at him like he was crazy, "Did you just call me, 'nii xiaao zi'?" And Imperialist?" 

"Well, whatever, you don't get to have it both ways. You gotta choose a side, choose what matters to you..." 

"And what about you? You didn't choose the Alliance or the Independents." 

It was Jayne's turn to sigh now, "I chose not to care. I chose myself." 

There was an awkward and strange pause, as Simon realized there was nothing else he could ask Jayne, no more "buts" to bring up. He'd run out of protests and moral highground. He looked straight at Jayne for the first time since he walked into the room and finally noticed that Jayne's left hand was bleeding through a dirty piece of gray cloth that was wrapped loosely around it. 

"You're bleeding," Simon said, pointing his eyes toward Jayne's left hand, which was now being cradled by his right one. 

"Oh, yeah," Jayne held it out and turned his wrist as if to show off the wound, "Gorram scratch that won't stop runnin'. Thought maybe you could sew it shut. It's gettin' annoying." 

"Sure, of course." Simon stood up, a little unsteadily, his legs half-asleep. "Everything's in my, um, office...." He moved toward the door. "So how did you hurt your hand, anyway?" 

Jayne's face opened into a wicked smile, "I was tryin' to teach your nutty sister how to throw knives. She was doing good for awhile there too..." 

Simon's jaw dropped and he immediately began a stream of protests: "You gave her knives? You were throwing them? She was throwing them? River and knives? You remember River and knives, don't you? Are you insane?" 

Jayne let go of the laugh he'd been holding in through Simon's little fit and chortled loudly and obnoxiously right in his face. He choked a few words out, "Yup. You're still easy." 

Simon stalked off and Jayne turned to follow after him, but stopped as he broke into another wave of laughter and grabbed his side hard with his injured hand. He yelped, but continued laughing and muttering "easy" as he walked after Simon, still holding his stomach and his bleeding hand. 

"The End" 

#### If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to hc


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